Ducati team heads to the “Cathedral”

With the 2013 season having passed its one-third mark at the Catalan Grand Prix, the Ducati Team now travels to the Netherlands’ legendary TT Circuit Assen, the northernmost point on the MotoGP calendar. The championship’s longest-standing round and its only race to be held on a Saturday, Assen is a unique event that is rich in history. The circuit has undergone several modifications over the years, including a slight revision last year, but one thing that has never varied is the huge crowd of fanatical spectators that the event invariably draws.

Nicky Hayden has enjoyed the Assen TT since he started in MotoGP in 2003, and it played host to one of his three victories, in 2006 (his championship-winning year). Although Dovizioso has never been victorious at the Dutch track, he has a solid record of respectable results there, including premier-class podium finishes in each of his last two visits.

Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team

“First of all, the weather should certainly be a bit cooler in Holland than it was in Barcelona, and that can only be good for us. The Assen circuit isn’t like it used to be when it was one of the nicest tracks on the calendar, and it’s completely different from the last couple of tracks we’ve been to. I’m curious to see how the Desmosedici will go at Assen. We’ll use the same bike that we had at Barcelona, so without the updated frame. I must admit that I haven’t had much luck at Assen and that I’ve only had a pair of third-place finishes in the last two years, so we hope to go better this time!”

Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team
“It was nice to be home for a weekend for the first time in quite a while, but I certainly feel fresh and ready to come back strong and finish out this next little stretch of races before the summer break. The next three rounds are all at tracks that I like a lot, and Assen in particular is a great circuit with a great history. I really enjoy it, and I feel focused and ready. Hopefully we can use the information from the test in Barcelona to have a good race.”

Vittoriano Guareschi – Team Manager
“Assen is a very technical track where it’s important to be able to find a setup that makes the bike manageable but that still has stability for the fast final part, which is the only section remaining from the old track. We’ll have to work a lot on the setup to avoid the problems that we had last year, so it’ll be important to have a good balance and manage good tyre life. Both of our riders have had some good results in the past at Assen: Nicky likes the track a lot, and although Andrea isn’t quite so fond of it, there are reasons to think we should have a good race.”

Ducati Team